Local athletes begin title quests at Spring Fling
Baylor boys will play for state tennis title
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Tuesday was a nice time for a win for the Baylor boys’ tennis program, and it came from a lineup described by coach Kevin Donovan as “our best team by far.”
The Red Raiders beat Memphis University School 4-2 in the Division II-AA semifinals to advance to today’s match for the team title at Adams Tennis Center.
Baylor, which won state in 2016, will play a rematch of the 2017 title contest with Montgomery Bell Academy, which beat the Red Raiders 4-2 last season. That match is at 12:30 EDT.
McCallie’s season came to a close with a 4-0 loss to the Big Red, while in Division I’s Small Class, Signal Mountain lost 4-2 to Trinity Christian.
Baylor’s season has been one with some levels of turmoil. The Red Raiders lost Ryan Toomey to a lowerbody injury late in the season, but Donovan said others have stepped up.
And they certainly did against MUS. Felipe Freitas
with Benji Taverne and Matthew Huinker with Ethan Burgan had doubles wins for Baylor, while Taverne, Brandon Kali and Hunter Smith won in singles.
“We’re really going to have to bring our ‘A’ game tomorrow,” Donovan said. “We’ve had some players that have stood up in some of these matches late in the season and come through for the team.
“Hopefully we’ll go out on a high.”
MBA’s Matthew Bulow, Hugh Graham and Baylor Sai scored singles wins against the Blue Tornado, who fell in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
Signal Mountain’s Thomas Thelen and Gabe Williams had singles wins for the Eagles. Another match went three sets, and Thelen and Grant Williams fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker of the No. 1 doubles match.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.